Tuesday, September 26, 2006

My hand/wrist hurt lots yesterday starting late afternoon. Since it had been fairly numb 'til then, I surmised maybe this was A Good Thing [TM] – that this might mean the nerve was mending. So I went to bed expecting to awake this morning with significant improvement – but no. I woke to no real pain and no improvement. Maybe the radial nerve is like the groundhog: saw its shadow and went into retreat.

Incidentally, this has been odd: When I'm sick, I feel rotten. When I'm hurt/injured, I feel pain. But this is wholly different, and bizarre to me. This (please God) temporary "disability" significantly affects every waking moment and every activity. I'm constantly having to find work-arounds. [It took almost 10 minutes to open the cat food yesterday. The cats were not pleased!] But I don't hurt; in fact, I feel hunky-dory. Significant cognitive dissonance there.

Incidentally, this certainly has begun to open my eyes to some disability issues. What I've experienced here for a mere four days is – of course – nothing. But this tiny taste may be very important for me.

I promised a report after seeing my regular doctor today. So here it is, though I don't know much more than I did when I left the ER Saturday. She did some of the evaluative analysis like checking reflexes, strength, resistance movement, etc. She wants to give it another week before doing any kind of "advanced" testing. As she put it: if it's indeed palsy, it will be gone in a week. If it's some other neurological thing, it'll hang around for the test. But she said the EMG [which is the next logical test] is sufficiently uncomfortable that she'd like to avoid it until necessary.

There's one more thing I do now know: I've mentioned that – besides my right pretty much hanging useless at the end of my forearm – my left hand and leg also "felt funny/shaky/something." Her analysis confirmed that. Left hand doesn't move well when I try to lift it in a palm-down position. Likewise for my left foot. There's a measurable level of impairment.

I am not amused. But I do feel enveloped in prayers and affection. Thanks – great, many and true thanks – to all of you!

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About Me

I'm a progressive Episcopalian raised in the South and now (thanks to a job change) living in the conservative Midwest. I worship at Grace Episcopal Church in Jefferson City. I love the Episcopal Church, which rescued me from a life of wandering meaningless and gave me a way to explore my faith and belief in God.
On any given topic, I am prone to yammer-on way too long. Sometimes I ponder way more than I should.
A blog-friend said that I demonstrate a "muscled love for our Church." I hope I can live up to that.
And right now I'm pondering Blogger's challenge to define myself in 1200 characters.